VALENTINE'S DAY TRAGEDY: Assistant Commissioner Of Police Drowns In Swimming Pool On Valentine’s Day In Lagos [PHOTO]

The Assistant
Commissioner of Police in charge of the Area K Command, Morogbo, Badagry, of
the Lagos State Police Command, Osung Ekpo, has drowned in a hotel’s swimming
pool in the Ajah area of the state.

PUNCH Reports
that Ekpo died on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, at about 5 p.m while swimming at the
hotel.

The State
Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the command had no suspicion about
the death of the ACP until an autopsy report revealed any reason to investigate
further.

Reports
gathered from reliable sources revealed that Ekpo was in company with friends
on Sunday and had decided to swim when he drowned in the swimming pool.

He was said to
have been rescued from the pool by policemen and hotel workers, who rushed him
to a nearby hospital.

But he
reportedly died shortly after he was admitted, and was pronounced dead by the
doctor on duty.

Ekpo’s corpse
was deposited in a morgue while investigations were ongoing to unravel the
cause of his death.

A police
source at the command headquarters, Ikeja, told one of our correspondents that
Ekpo was doing some laps as a form of exercise when he got drowned.

He said, “This
incident is a bad Valentine’s gift to the police. The ACP died in a swimming
pool at a popular hotel in the Ajah area of Lagos. He was in company with his
friends, who had come there to celebrate Valentine’s Day with him. He decided
to swim and he got drowned.

“He was
quickly rushed to a hospital, but he did not make it. Several teams of
policemen have stormed the hotel as investigation is ongoing.”

A close friend
of the deceased, who did not identify herself, described him as friendly, adding
that it was unbelievable that he drowned.

She said,
“When I heard about the death, I could not believe it. How could he have
drowned? It was not his first time of swimming, so what could have happened? I
have yet to come to terms with the news of his death.”

Late Ekpo, who
was married with children, hailed from Akwa Ibom State.

He was said to
have been the Divisional Police Officer in Ajah before he was promoted to ACP.

A top police
chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deceased had been living
in the hotel for a long time.

He said, “He
had been living in that hotel since he was the Divisional Police Officer in
Ajah. He was an area commander with a difference and his death is a shock to
many of us.”

The CP,
Owoseni, told PUNCH Metro that Ekpo was instrumental in recovering weapons used
by bank robbers in the Agbara area of Ogun State.

He said the
command would only have a reason to suspect a foul play in the ACP’s death if
the autopsy report confirmed that.

He said, “Ekpo
had gone to exercise in the hotel, but he died in the course of the exercise.
His exercise was swimming, and he had done some press-ups and preliminary
running around before jumping into the water.

“At the
moment, the command does not have any reason for suspicion. The body is in the
morgue, and a post-mortem will be carried out. Suspicion will only come in when
the autopsy comes out.

“On a personal
level, Ekpo was a pleasant officer, and he had been effective in most of the
operations we carried out in the command. An instance was the last bank robbery
in Agbara, Ogun State.

“Through his
efforts as the Area Commander in Morogbo, Badagry, he and his men in
conjunction with the Rapid Response Squad successfully foiled the move by the
robbers to infiltrate Lagos State. And that was why we were able to cage them
on water.

“He
also led the operation to recover the gunboats and canoes used by the robbers
which led to their eventual arrest. Since July that I came, we have not
recorded any bad incident in the state from that area.”

VALENTINE'S DAY TRAGEDY: Assistant Commissioner Of Police Drowns In Swimming Pool On Valentine’s Day In Lagos [PHOTO]
Reviewed by Oluwaseun Bello
on
February 16, 2016
Rating: 5